Many vaporwave classics are easily recognisable as such, especially now in hindsight. The use of certain cultural signifiers or sonic methodologies, such as certain sampling styles or approaches, helps us to understand exactly why an album gained huge prominence. It was new, it hadn’t been done before.

Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1 has an evident style that it employs with great success. luxury elite’s World Class has the warm charm that would cement it as a pillar of the Signalwave genre. Even the monolithic and seemingly elusive Floral Shoppe, in its coalescence of now-byword vaporwave imagery with freeform sampling, can be understood as a feat.

Eyeliner’s BUY NOW might be put into this category quite easily, too. A MIDI wonderland dealing in pre-millennium pastiche. But, as we look closer, we might find our understanding falls apart, or that the album dives deeper than we assume it does. It is a study of consumerism to bolster a sense of modern identity. But then, why is it so damn catchy? It is a muzak masterpiece, but why is it so emotionally vibrant? Even the track names, funny at a moment's glance, feel strangely mysterious when really considered.

Before now, dissecting a vaporwave album was a collaging effort, searching through YouTube comments and sprawling diatribes on Reddit or RYM, trying to square that with critiques of capitalism or nebulous commentaries on media. But no longer, as the genre has made a bold step into the literary critique world, courtesy of the Bloomsbury series, 33⅓, which makes Eyeliner’s album BUY NOW its next target.

Dr Michael Brown, music researcher at the Alexander Turnbull Library, has gone to great lengths, sitting down with Luke Rowell – the man behind the Eyeliner moniker – pawing over now-defunct blogs, committing to expansive listen-throughs, and applying his expertise in music and his native New Zealand to his exploration. The fruit of these efforts is not only a comprehensive exploration of a brilliant album, but one of the first of its kind about a genre/movement often laden with context and complexity.

Band-in-a-box, LinnDrum, ChordSpace, HALionOne. All of the elements that make BUY NOW are meticulously detailed, thanks to access to the album archive project, in conjunction with the National Library of New Zealand.

From the first juvenile forays into music and on into New Zealand’s punk scene that Luke took as his Devo-inspired act Disasteradio, Michael sets the scene brilliantly. The mention of an interest in video game soundtracks and jingle music early on in life is like a beacon calling out to those reading of the path this musician will eventually take.

Ventures into the computer music world through DAWs and file-sharing portals such as Nuendo or Jeskola Buzz will be familiar to some. But the exploration of the specificity of New Zealand as BUY NOW’s breeding ground is especially rewarding. From the boom in consumerism and luxury goods that came in the post-protectionist era of deregulation and shopping malls – the Queensgate mega-mall specifically for Luke, to insights into the Wellington music scene with mentions of Kerry Ann Lee, who steered the budding musician into more trajectory that aligned with his parents' love of community theatre.

These eccentricities come together in the album that many would come to know and love.

Vaporwave is written about here, too, but from a fruitful outsider perspective. Away from the bubble of the genre itself, but also in a more critical style than one might find in the short introductory Vice articles from several years ago, and in a less sycophantic way than many deep dives (Adam Harper’s Dummy articles are mentioned a few times). The genre’s ability to wield satire and seriousness simultaneously is highlighted. In this way, fans of vaporwave will be able to see their beloved movement in a new light, shorn of bias and seen for what it has achieved.

Michael makes clear – with Luke’s help – the reason BUY NOW has been so successful is as wedded to Luke’s emotional connection to the album

There are beautiful explorations of dated software Luke used to achieve BUY NOW’s unique sound. We have Luke’s months-long Seinfeld sessions and the Korg M1 to thank for the latherings of slap bass that pop throughout the runtime. And Luke’s explanation of the production game he would partake in, playing into the Eyeliner muzak-producer character and pretending he only had one or two synths in his 1980s studio, goes along way to illustrating that sweet spot between VSTi technology and old school sound he was able to achieve. Band-in-a-box, LinnDrum, ChordSpace, HALionOne. All of the elements that make BUY NOW are meticulously detailed, thanks to access to the album archive project, in conjunction with the National Library of New Zealand.

Much of this comes to a head in the incredibly detailed and intricate track description section of the book, where Michael paws over the details of the songlist. With track titles thoroughly analysed and the musicality of the album almost bouncing into the reader’s ears through the well-written descriptions, the book is weighty with information, but never ceases to be interesting.

Michael makes clear – with Luke’s help – the reason BUY NOW has been so successful is as wedded to Luke’s emotional connection to the album. This may sound strange for such an album, but as we hear of the musician staring wistfully out on New Zealand plains while listening to mixdowns and his total commitment to the Eyeliner character – an “essential self’ epitomising the commodification of the musician in their entirety – in order to wrench MIDI music from its corporate prison, it becomes easier to see why the album holds such a place in people’s hearts.

Dr Michael Brown’s exploration of BUY NOW as part of Bloomsbury’s 33⅓ series is the final word on a beautiful vaporwave album. Drawing together so many disparate strands into one intricate and summarising document was no doubt a difficult task, but for vaporwave fans and those who frequent the brilliant music made under the Eyeliner moniker, it is an indispensable book.

33⅓: Eyeliner’s BUY NOW

Purchase BUY NOW

Follow Luke Rowell (Eyeliner/Disasteradio)